President Calvin Coolidge: How Nothing Did Everything

Throughout the history of the United States, many presidents have collaborated and expanded on their ideas to form the prosperous and dominating nation of America. While the United States has shifted through times of prosperity and depression, it continues to remain a powerful country because of our previous presidents and their policies. As a small government republican, Calvin Coolidge was a quiet man, but he was able to lead the country through one of the greatest economic booms in the nation’s history. Calvin Coolidge’s legacy remains one of the most prominent in United States history, because of his personality and strong politics towards the country’s economics and international relationships.

Calvin Coolidge was born on Independence Day, July 4, 1872. He grew up in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where he was born, which consisted of a village of farmhouses nestled in the Green Mountains. As a child, Calvin had no friends because of lack of social skills. Eventually, his social skills began to improve, displaying his winning mischievousness.[1] He studied Greek and Latin, as well as history and politics, in college preparatory school, Black River, where he distinguished himself to deliver a graduation address. For Black River students, the natural college choice was Amherst College; however, Coolidge failed the entrance exam because of illness. He did not give up and took another year at a different college preparatory school, St. Johnsbury Academy, which helped him to get into Armherst in 1891.[2]

After his success in the college, in 1898, Coolidge was elected to the Northampton City Council as a Republican. Northampton elected him to be a mayor in 1909. As a mayor, Coolidge lowered municipal taxes and shrank the city debt, while raising teachers’ salaries.[3] Being a successful mayor helped Coolidge become the president of the Massachusetts’s senate. Five years later, in 1918, he became the governor of Massachusetts. As governor, Coolidge was able to combine progressivism’s efficiency and conservatism’s taste for small government: he restructured the state’s government, consolidating more than one hundred agencies in fewer than twenty.[4] The improvements he made for Massachusetts are significant, including signing into law measures to improve working conditions, regulating property owners, providing bonus, etc. One of his most prominent achievements as a governor was suppressing the Boston Police Strike. When the Boston Police Strike broke, Coolidge ordered the police commissioner again to take charge of the police and called out the entire Massachusetts militia, declaring, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.”[5] These words brought enormous amount of glory and trust for Coolidge, contributing to further success in his career.

However, in the election of 1920, Republicans elected Calvin Coolidge to run as a vice-president, not the president. After the election, when Harding won, Coolidge realized that he was fortunate to become the vice-president instead of the president – in the 1920s, the vice-president had very little duties. The chief duty the vice-president had to do was to preside over senate, and Calvin Coolidge did not expand its boundaries. Although Harding had promised Coolidge a role in the government and, in historic move, allowed him to join the cabinet meetings, Calvin did not show interest in Harding’s administration.[6] Harding’s administration was notorious for the scandals the cabinet members created by using the government’s money for their own purpose, but, since Coolidge did not participate in it, he had more respect from the people. In a spontaneous moment, on August 2, 1923, during a summer tour of the West, President Warren Harding was seized by a massive fatal heart attack in his San Francisco hotel room.[7]

Although Harding’s death was a shock to the whole country, as well as to Coolidge himself, he became the thirtieth president of the United States. As the new president, Coolidge used his mother’s Bible, which sat on the table, to somberly recite the thirty-five-word oath at his home – the clock showed 2:47 A.M.[8] Calvin Coolidge did not expect things turn out this way, and he did not expect to become president – he did not know how he was supposed to control the country. Even within his own party, he occupied no clear niche. However, the timing for Coolidge could have not been better – the First World War had recently ended and the country found itself in fortuitous economic state. The military expenditures, which had underwritten much of the investment and productivity that emerged in the 1920s, were now greatly diminished.[9] The economy was booming even without Coolidge’s interference in economic governance.

Additionally, Coolidge’s personality contributed to his success as a president. Walter Lippmann pointed out that the political genius of President Coolidge was his talent for effectively doing nothing.[10] His personality of just letting things flow in their way inspired his nickname, “Silent Cal.” Since he grew up in a small town, he had different qualities than other previous presidents – people consider him to be the most negative and remote president. However, Calvin Coolidge was an extremely religious person and believed in Protestant values, which he promoted. “Our government rests upon religion,” Coolidge said in 1924. “It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and for the rights of mankind.”[11] He also preferred to work alone instead of consulting others.

Furthermore, Coolidge had some unique traditions that made him famous. In the afternoon, he would greet droves of White House tourists – he was the last president to work the rope lines regularly – and once shook hands with 1,900 callers in 34 minutes, achieving a record. Also, he was well known for going to bed early. One more significant thing about Coolidge’s personality is that he did not like to appear in public, but was the most photographed president in United States history: “He avoided every appearance of publicity seeking, but he probably was the most photographed man who ever occupied the White House,” noted Jay Hayden of the Detroit News.[12]

Since Coolidge lead the country through one of the greatest economic boom in U.S. history, the preferential circumstances did not do everything – Coolidge contributed to the success as well. Calvin strongly believed in “trickle down” economics, also known as the Mellon Tax plan. The main idea of the plan is that cutting taxes on the rich would lead them to invest their windfall and spur productive advances that would benefit workers and consumers alike. The Coolidge plan included not just the rate cuts for the rich, but other discounts that benefited the middle class, such as an across-the-board income tax cut in 1924, and an increased exemption for married couples in 1926.Coolidge also supported the Revenue Acts of 1924 and 1926. The goals of these acts were to reduce the taxes of income, inheritance, gifts and excise.[13] As a result of Coolidge’s acts to improve the welfare of the people and the economic conditions in the country, Americans began not paying any income taxes at all by the end of his second term and deteriorating the economy, which resulted as the Great Depression.

Additionally, Calvin Coolidge supported the development of media, such as radio. While radio speeches were only one of the main campaign techniques he used, he believed in the importance that radio was going to have in the future. However, Coolidge tried to control the radio through the release of the groundbreaking Radio Act in February 1927. The law declared that airwaves are public property and therefore the government can control it. The Radio Act also established the Federal Radio Commission, within the Commerce Department, to issue broadcast licenses and assign frequencies.[14] The Radio Act is one of the most significant laws released by Coolidge because of its significance of media control.

When Coolidge appeared in front of Congress in 1923, he was full of resolution. His litany included tighter immigration policies, an anti-lynching law, stricter enforcement of prohibition, a constitutional amendment, limiting child labor, and the regulation of new industries such as radio and aviation.[15] However, he did not exactly carry out everything he said he would do. He did nothing to support prohibition or anti-lynching, and even supported replacing black Republican delegates from southern states with white ones in order to attract more voters there.[16] However, he significantly improved working conditions, supported radio development by creating the Federal Radio Commission, and extremely tightened immigration. The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as Quota System, reduced the number of eastern and southern Europeans allowed into America and excluded the Japanese altogether, in the Japanese Exclusion Act.[17] Concerning domestic affairs, Coolidge, even though he did not achieve everything he planned to, was ultimately successful.

While Coolidge was a successful president in domestic affairs, the family life was not fortunate for the president. His mother, who was a sentimental person and loved to plant flowers, suffered from tuberculosis, and died in 1885, at the age of thirty-nine, after having been injured by a run-away horse.[18] Moreover, five years later, his sister, Abbie, also died probably from appendicitis, at the age of fourteen.[19] After his sister’s death, Calvin met his future wife Grace Goodhue. Calvin and Grace married in 1905, later, in 1906, they had their first son, John, and two years later, in 1908, their second son, Calvin Jr., was born.[20]However, during his presidency, a tragedy struck – his younger son died. On Monday, June 30, 1924, sixteen year old Calvin Jr. developed a blood blister on the middle toe of his right foot; the next day, the doctors confirmed he had a staphylococcus.[21] Calvin Jr. died on July 7, being the first child of a sitting president to die since 1862.[22] The president suffered a lot from the tragedy – he blamed himself for his son’s death, creating theories that if he had not been president, his son would have never played on the White House ground, which he was convinced resulted in his death. This tragedy took quite a while for the president to recover from and return to his normal condition.

However, after the death of his son, Calvin Coolidge had an important event – the election of 1924. The Republicans gave Coolidge the nomination on the first ballot and urged the nation to “Keep Cool with Coolidge.” In the race, Coolidge delivered only one major speech. However, he used media to win the election – speaking on the radio allowed the president to remake the presidency.[23] In the end, Coolidge won 54% of the vote compared to 28.8% for John W. Davis and 16.6% for Robert M. La Follete, compiled 382 electoral votes in thirty-five states, being only the second president elected in an election in which the majority of those eligible did not even vote.[24]

As Calvin Coolidge led the country through one of the most prosperous periods in United States history, he was not really interested in foreign affairs. Furthermore, he wanted his cabinet members to manage international affairs for him. During his presidency, he was able to maintain a strong presence and assert influence in Latin America. On May 3, 1924, representatives from Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador signed the Pact of Anapala with the U.S., with a consensus to cut off aid to the insurgent forces in neighboring Honduras.[25]Additionally, U.S. troops trained and maintained pro-American National Guards in the Dominican Republic, and occupied Nicaragua and Haiti with a peacekeeping force.[26]Coolidge also wanted Americans to control Cuban politics and the economy. However, in 1928, in Havana, Latin American countries assembled a conference eager to denounce and control the interference of the United States.[27] During the meeting, Coolidge personally went to Havana and gave a speech there, which resembles his care for international relationships, because he disliked travelling and hardly ever left the United States to travel to another country.

However, relations with European countries were different and Coolidge put more effort into them. Early in Coolidge’s second term, the question of joining of the World Court came into being. During his 1924 campaign, and in a post-election message, Calvin Coolidge and his team reiterated the desire to join the World Court, stating: “our country shall not be bound by advisory opinions which may be rendered by the Court upon questions which we have not voluntarily submitted for its judgment.”[28] On January 26, 1926, the Senate approved the protocol with the required two-thirds supermajority; however, the protocol carried amendments that limited the court’s jurisdiction over the U.S. and stipulated that by joining the court, the U.S. would be also joining the League of Nations.[29] Due to this, the U.S. never joined the World Court, despite all Coolidge’s efforts. Calvin Coolidge also supported the signing of the Dawes Plan. The purpose of the Dawes Plan was to solve the German reparations problem and to end the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops. The U.S., France, Great Britain, Italy, and Belgium signed the act on August 30, 1924.[30]

Another significant foreign event that Coolidge took part in is the Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris. The idea behind the pact is that it outlawed war as a mean to settle disputes and encouraged using diplomacy and world opinion to resolve conflict. Coolidge supported the signing of the pact, which occured on August 27, 1928. Calvin Coolidge tried to participate in foreign affairs, but most of his attempts were unsuccessful; the only successful attempt to bring the U.S. into the world’s affairs is the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

After his second term, in 1928, Coolidge refused to run for the third term. After retiring, he returned to Northampton, where on January 5, 1933, he died from heart failure. After he left office, people changed their opinions about him and blamed him for the nation’s economic collapse. Nearly five thousand rural banks in the Midwest and South shut their doors due to bankruptcy, and farmers lost their land; two hundred major corporations controlled more than 50% of nation’s wealth.[31] By 1929, the top fifth of the population controlled nearly 60% of nation’s wealth and 70% of American families earned less than $2,500 a year.[32] The people believed if it was not for Coolidge’s poor decisions, the Great Depression would have never happened.

Calvin Coolidge was the thirtieth president of the United States and served two terms as a president. During his presidency, Calvin Coolidge did not do anything significant, earning him the nickname “Silent Cal” because of his policies to do nothing. However, he was able to lead the country through one of the most economically prosperous periods, and provided many insightful decisions that supported the nation’s economic growth. Additionally, Coolidge tried to improve international relations and participate in foreign affairs, but unfortunately, he was not successful with diplomacy – the only successful international act the United States signed uder his presidency was the Kellogg-Briand Pact. Although many people blamed him for the occurrence of the Great Depression, the legacy of Calvin Coolidge is important and significant in United States history.

[1] David Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge (New York: Times Book, 2006), 18.

[2] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 19.

[3] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 21.

[4] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 28.

[5] Dictionary of American History, “Boston Police Strike 1919”, High Beam™ Research, Inc.,http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Boston_Police_Strike_1919.aspx (accessed on February 26, 2011).

[6] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 40.

[7] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 43.

[8] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 44.

[9] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 58.

[10] The White House, “Calvin Coolidge”, United States Government,http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/calvincoolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[11] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 56.

[12] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 67.

[13] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[14] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 131.

[15] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 76.

[16] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 87.

[17] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[18] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 17.

[19] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 17.

[20] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 22.

[21] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 96.

[22] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 97.

[23] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 100.

[24] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[25] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[26] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[27] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[28] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 115.

[29] Greenberg, Calvin Coolidge, 115.

[30] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[31] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).

[32] Miller Center Public Affairs, “American Presidents: Calvin Coolidge,” University of Virginia,http://www.millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/coolidge (accessed on December 4, 2010).